100 Tulips

[UPDATE 4/28: Now with more color variety!]

This is a great story, and one that I've been saving for six months.

Back in November, right before we were about to leave on our Thanksgiving vacation, we had all just finished lunch and were sitting around the kitchen. I was leisurely browsing my bank statements on my phone. (Some people play Angry Birds in their free time; I like to kick back and balance my checkbook. Stay with me here.)

Suddenly I said, "Hey, what is this $50 charge to... 'American Meadows' in Vermont?"

And Travis suddenly looked really sheepish and hemmed and hawed a little. Finally he explained, "I, um... may have ordered 100 tulips."

Now while you react with speechlessness and a blank stare, as I did at this point, let me just take a moment to say that while I am the money girl in the household, I do not obsess over every cent and try to Scroogeishly control my husband's spending. That said, let me remind you that Christmas is just around the corner, we have no disposable income and are living off of student loans, AND we are renters with built-in HOA-controlled landscaping (and therefore no real square footage for gardening). And it is also November, and do we really care about what flowers we'll enjoy in the spring? Let me reiterate the part about Christmas coming soon!

As I tried to communicate all of these grievances using only words like, "I... you... what.... why.... uh..." he reminded me of when he first started working at Tahitian Noni in Provo, when we were first engaged and desperately looking for a venue for our wedding reception. The corporate office keeps a very large and beautifully landscaped garden, and at the time it was packed full of tulips in full bloom. He called me on his first day and said, "I found the perfect place!"  Several months later, we did have our wedding reception in that garden, and it was magnificent.

He explained that he's always wanted a yard full of tulips in the spring. I tried to be understanding but pointed out that we have no place to put 100 tulips, and this time of year that money could be better spent elsewhere. Okay maybe I wasn't so understanding in real life as my memory of myself thinks that I was. I'm pretty sure I said something more like, "Uh huh. Well, you should get on the phone and cancel that order." So he did. Only the girl he spoke with said they were unable to contact the warehouse who would be shipping the order because they were already closed for the holiday weekend. She'd call back on Monday to tell us whether the order was indeed canceled or not.

After the Thanksgiving weekend, we received the call saying the order had been canceled and everything had been taken care of. The charge was reversed, and while I was glad it was so easily undone, I did feel bad for Travis not getting his tulips.

But I mean, what kind of impulse buy was that, anyway? Some husbands run out and buy a motorcycle without mentioning it to their wives (*cough* my father-in-law *cough) or, I don't know, sports tickets or electronics? But tulips? I guess I should not complain - there are definitely worse things he could secretly be dropping money on! Tulips are sweet, really. I love that he wants to beautify our home.

Anyway, back to my story. So a week or so later, a package arrives on the door. From Vermont. You guessed it - it's full of 100 tulip bulbs. Travis received the package and immediately thought, "Oh, that's so sweet! Krista ordered them for me anyway!" Then he called me playfully asking about a certain package that had arrived. But unfortunately, I was clueless as ever, because I did NOT have that great idea (which would indeed have been a great idea for a Christmas gift, after that funny episode. DANG IT! Why can't I ever think up great and obvious gifts like that?)

The tulip-bulb people said they had definitely canceled the order, and I had already checked our bank account during my me-time recently and noted that the charge had been refunded. So he called the place again and they said, "Yes, that was our mistake, so you can just keep them and we won't charge you."

Well I felt guilty that I had caused that mistake, but... 100 free tulips!

Travis planted them at once.

Which, it turns out, is why he was ordering them in November.

Apparently you plant them in fall so they will come up the following spring?
I don't know; I will never understand plants.

Also, he squeezed all 100 bulbs into that tiny little flowerbed plot alongside our front walk. Who knew?

So now they have bloomed, and they ARE quite magnificent. Definitely a beautiful spring scene.

Oh and not surprisingly, he has put Kate in charge of watering them instead of me.

Also on the topic of spring planting, Travis took the kids to our school's "Family Fun Night" on Friday, and they came home with all sorts of stuff to plant. Not sure why... I think maybe it was Earth Day recently?

Anyway, they each brought home a tree.

Which was really a stick with a plastic bag wrapped around one end, but whatever.

They came with planting instructions, but as I've emphasized before, we don't really have much of a place to plant stuff right now. So this afternoon, we all went behind the house to the little creek to find a new home for our sticks, I mean trees. After the Great Beaver Invasion of 2012, I figured that little creek could use a few more trees.

We tried to find a good spot where they would get plenty of water. Then we planted the first one.

After the first tree was in the ground, I spotted THIS frightful sight slithering through the grass toward my children.

You can't really see it very well (I was more concerned with getting outta there than photography), but it is a giant black snake! It was actually very long and very big.

I sort of grabbed my baby and ran for my life.

(The big kids and Trav were left to fend for themselves. Don't worry; they are fast runners so I wasn't worried about them.)

A little internet research revealed that the official name for this species of black snake native to Missouri is, in fact, the "Black Snake."

Also sometimes known to fancier reptile enthusiasts as the "Black Rat Snake." Lovely.

Apparently they are "harmless" and "nonpoisonous," and "Only someone who has dealt with a mouse or rat problem can truly appreciate this natural, nonpoisonous hunter of rodents. These snakes reduce damage to crops and stored grain by rodents without the use of deadly poisons. This far outweighs the occasional theft of a few hens' eggs or baby chickens."

Oh, well in that case, what's the sacrifice of a few baby chickens to keep this snake around?

[Big shudder of disgust]

It was not my favorite part of today.